Various ammunition carriers are known in the art. FIG. 1 shows one known ammunition carrier 10. The ammunition carrier 10 includes an assembly that retains the ammunition until it is desired to unload the ammunition. Ammunition removal and uploading is accomplished by a hand-off mechanism that includes forks, gates and cams as shown in FIG. 1. The ammunition carrier 10 is typically transported along with other ammunition carriers in an ammunition handling system. The particular ammunition carrier 10 is transported in the ammunition handling system until it is disposed in a position for unloading. The ammunition will then be released from the fork via a cam arrangement effecting actuation of a gate. The gate as shown in FIG. 1 effects the release of the ammunition from the ammunition carrier 10. The fork cam is provided to engage with a suitable cam surface, i.e., so as to effect rotation of the fork and gate cam, as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 shows a further known ammunition carrier 20. The ammunition carrier 20 includes mechanically preloaded spring clips. The clips secure the ammunition to the ammunition carrier 20. However, there are various constraints to the “snap-in” ammunition carrier design. Such design is typically limited to a horizontal magazine orientation. As can be appreciated, there is a tight tolerance in the manufacture of the clips. Further, the clips are subject to fatigue. A further constraint is that the “snap-in” ammunition carrier design typically requires a hand-off mechanism to remove or upload the ammunition.
Accordingly, known ammunition carriers suffer from various drawbacks associated with ease of use, securement of the ammunition during various phases of manipulation of the ammunition, structural soundness, and additional weight and cost associated with hand-off mechanism. The systems and methods of the invention address these and other drawbacks of known arrangements.